BREAKING BREAD
In a land where black bread graces almost every table, Kenneth Karjane and Eva Kõrvas — the duo behind one of Tallinn’s most celebrated bakeries — serve up an Estonian feast
It’s a frigid -11C morning in the Estonian capital and the city has frosted over. Fat, fluffy snowflakes are cascading from the sky, blanketing the streets in inches of soft, sugary powder. It’s the perfect weather for curling up by the fire, but instead I’m out and about on an Estonian food trail.
I’m spending the day with Kenneth Karjane and Eva Kõrvas, the affable young duo behind Tallinn’s immensely popular Karjase Sai bakery. We’re trundling along an icy road in a bus headed south for the village of Rahula, in Harju County, where Eva’s family owns a little farm. Despite being locals, they’re enchanted by the snow. “I haven’t seen this kind of weather in a long time,” says Eva, peering out the window.
It might be one of the coldest days of the year but the welcome I’m about to receive is as warm as I could have hoped for. As we open the gate to the farm, two enormous dogs, Hagu and Gusta, come bounding across the snow to greet us, tails wagging frantically. Close behind is Eva’s youthful mother, Egle Kõrvas, a wide smile etched on her face.
We’ve made the 15-mile journey from Tallinn to taste some of Egle’s famous apple juice, which she makes every year from her crop of 20 or so apple trees, many of which bear heirloom varieties. “It’s a hobby for me,” says Egle, who, as it turns out, has many pastimes: besides working as a physical education teacher, she also dabbles in furniture restoration and enjoys dancing.
In fact, she’s participating in a traditional dance performance in a nearby village this very afternoon, which explains her distinctive outfit: a striped skirt that’s part of the rahvariided, a colourful folk costume, hand-stitched using a blend of linen and wool.
Este explains that she usually harvests her apples around August/September, extracting the juice using an old-school fruit press and bottling it in glass jars. “It’s 100% apples, no sugar or water,” she declares proudly. This season, Este has managed to make around 400 litres of juice —a “medium year”, she reckons.
“This apple juice is something that we enjoy throughout the year,” says Eva. “We always drink it whenever we have lunch together as a family. We also sell it in our bakery. It’s really loved by our customers, who say it’s the best they’ve ever had.”
This, I’m about to discover, is no exaggeration. After laughing at the excitable dogs, who have mischievously chased Egle’s goats and sheep into hiding, we retreat into the house —a cosy, woo
